Dolmas are stuffed grape leaves.
To see the write up, visit Weekly Vegan Menu.
There are four components to this dish:
The Leaves
The Filling
The Rolling
The Cooking Broth
The Leaves
This is how the grape leaves are found, in jars.
We need to remove them and wash them. They are packed pretty tightly, so be firm but careful in removing them. As you can see, they are packed in large rolls.
Carefully separate them and rinse them in a bowl of water.
To further remove the packing liquid, soak them in boiling water for a few minutes.
After a good soak, drain them and rinse them again in cold water. At this point, separate them well and remove the ones that are broken too badly or are too small. Save these to line the pot.
The Filling
In a large pot, with 2 quarts of boiling water, add 1 c of long-grain rice in a steady stream while stirring them.
Bring to a boil and cook them for 5 minutes.
As soon as the timer goes off, drain them immediately.
...and rinse them with cool water. Drain well.
To the rice we will add a bunch of scallions (5-6), a bunch of parsley (about a cup packed) and 1/4 c of pine nuts.
Chop your pine nuts by hand. Just go slowly so they don't jump from your board.
So, for the filling you have the rice, scallions, parley, pine nuts, 1 t salt and 1 t fresh ground pepper.
Mix all of the ingredients well.
With the saved grape leaves, line the large pot you cooked the rice in.
The Rolling
Place a leaf, shinny side down, on the table in front of you, with the stem end closest to you.
Place 2-3 teaspoons of filling in the middle. The amount depends on how big the leaf is. You'll get a feeling for it as you roll-along.
Fold the bottom edges of the leaf over the filling.
Now fold the left side over the filling.
Now fold the right side over the filling.
Begin to roll the dolma, taking care to be firm and tight.
And here you are! Just repeat about 40 more times. It'll go faster as you get used to it.
Lay your dolmas in the pot, tightly together.
Continue on a second row and then a third, if needed.
The Cooking Broth
You will need: 4-6 garlic cloves, minced, 1/4 c fresh lemon juice, 1/2 c olive oil, 1/2 t salt, 1/2 t fresh ground pepper and 2 t sugar.
First, combine the garlic, salt, pepper and sugar.
Mix in the lemon juice.
Whisk in the olive oil.
Whisk in 1 c of water.
Pour this mixture over the dolmas.
Invert a plate over them to prevent them from opening during cooking.
Bring them to a boil and reduce to simmer. Cook them for one hour...
Every ten minutes, make sure to baste.
Lift the plate off and ...
baste using a dolma baster (aka turkey baster). If you feel the simmering liquid is evaporating too much, add a little water, but by the end of the cooking, the liquid should have evaporated mostly, leaving only olive oil.
Cool the dolmas before eating.
Here is the Dolmas Recipe
